Non polarised electrolytics

[ppppenguin]

Diodes like that would probably give some hideous non-linearity.

I suspect that in an DC application (where you wouldn't need a non-polarised part) one of the caps would tend towards a short circuit. So the value wouldn't halve. In an AC application each cap would stay formed despite spending half its time reverse biased so the value would be halved.

Or is that a load of rot?


From Wikipedia, sounds plausible:

Special bipolar aluminum electrolytic capacitors designed for bipolar operation are available, and usually referred to as "non-polarized" or "bipolar" types. In these, the capacitors have two anode foils with full-thickness oxide layers connected in reverse polarity. On the alternate halves of the AC cycles, one of the oxides on the foil acts as a blocking dielectric, preventing reverse current from damaging the electrolyte of the other one